Stimulants are a class of drugs that increase the activity of the brain and the spinal cord. They are used for various purposes, such as enhancing alertness, attention, motivation, cognition, mood, and physical performance. Some of the most common stimulants are caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, cocaine, and modafinil.
Salvinorin A is the main active psychotropic molecule in Salvia divinorum. Salvinorin A is considered a dissociative hallucinogen.
Lidocaine, also known as lignocaine and sold under the brand name Xylocaine among others, is a local anesthetic of the amino amide type. It is also used to treat ventricular tachycardia. When used for local anaesthesia or in nerve blocks, lidocaine typically begins working within several minutes and lasts for half an hour to three hours. Lidocaine mixtures may also be applied directly to the skin or mucous membranes to numb the area. It is often used mixed with a small amount of adrenaline (epinephrine) to prolong its local effects and to decrease bleeding.
Carfentanil or carfentanyl, sold under the brand name Wildnil, is an extremely potent opioid analgesic used in veterinary medicine to anesthetize large animals such as elephants and rhinoceroses. It is typically administered in this context by tranquilizer dart. Carfentanil has also been used in humans to image opioid receptors. It has additionally been used as a recreational drug, typically by injection, insufflation, or inhalation. Deaths have been reported in association with carfentanil.
Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) is a stimulant of the cathinone class that acts as a norepinephrine–dopamine reuptake inhibitor (NDRI). It was first developed in the 1960s by a team at Boehringer Ingelheim. Its activity at the dopamine transporter is six times stronger than at the norepinephrine transporter and it is virtually inactive at the serotonin transporter. MDPV remained an obscure stimulant until around 2004 when it was reportedly sold as a designer drug. In the US, products containing MDPV and labeled as bath salts were sold as recreational drugs in gas stations, similar to the marketing for Spice and K2 as incense, until it was banned in 2011.
Norcocaine is a minor metabolite of cocaine. It is the only confirmed pharmacologically active metabolite of cocaine, although salicylmethylecgonine is also speculated to be an active metabolite. The local anesthetic potential of norcocaine has been shown to be higher than that of cocaine, however cocaine continues to be more widely used. Norcocaine used for research purposes is typically synthesized from cocaine. Several methods for the synthesis have been described.
Dimethocaine, also known as DMC or larocaine, is a compound with a stimulatory effect. This effect resembles that of cocaine, although dimethocaine appears to be less potent. Just like cocaine, dimethocaine is addictive due to its stimulation of the reward pathway in the brain. However, dimethocaine is a legal cocaine replacement in some countries and is even listed by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) under the category “synthetic cocaine derivatives”. The structure of dimethocaine, being a 4-aminobenzoic acid ester, resembles that of procaine. It is found as a white powder at room temperature.
Meprylcaine is a local anesthetic with stimulant properties that is structurally related to dimethocaine.
Eutylone is a stimulant and empathogenic compound developed in the 1960s, which is classified as a designer drug. It was first reported to the EMCDDA in 2014 and became widespread internationally in 2019-2020 following bans on the related compound ephylone. It is not a natural, but a synthetic cathinone. In 2021, eutylone was the most common cathinone identified by the Drug Enforcement Administration in the United States.
N-Ethylbuphedrone is a stimulant of the cathinone class that has been sold as a designer drug. It is the β-ketone analogue of N,alpha-diethylphenylethylamine.
AB-FUBINACA (AMB-FUBINACA) is a psychoactive drug that acts as a potent agonist for the cannabinoid receptors, with Ki values of 0.9 nM at CB1 and 23.2 nM at CB2 and EC50 values of 1.8 nM at CB1 and 3.2 nM at CB2. It was originally developed by Pfizer in 2009 as an analgesic medication but was never pursued for human use. In 2012, it was discovered as an ingredient in synthetic cannabinoid blends in Japan, along with a related compound AB-PINACA, which had not previously been reported.
Ephenidine is a dissociative anesthetic that has been sold online as a designer drug. It is illegal in some countries as a structural isomer of the banned opioid drug lefetamine, but has been sold in countries where it is not yet banned.
5F-AMB (also known as 5F-MMB-PINACA and 5F-AMB-PINACA) is an indazole-based synthetic cannabinoid from the indazole-3-carboxamide family, which has been used as an active ingredient in synthetic cannabis products. It was first identified in Japan in early 2014. Although only very little pharmacological information about 5F-AMB itself exists, its 4-cyanobutyl analogue (instead of 5-fluoropentyl) has been reported to be a potent agonist for the CB1 receptor (KI = 0.7 nM).
MDMB-CHMINACA (also known as MDMB(N)-CHM) is an indazole-based synthetic cannabinoid that acts as a potent agonist of the CB1 receptor, and has been sold online as a designer drug. It was invented by Pfizer in 2008, and is one of the most potent cannabinoid agonists known, with a binding affinity of 0.0944 nM at CB1, and an EC50 of 0.330 nM. It is closely related to MDMB-FUBINACA, which caused at least 1000 hospitalizations and 40 deaths in Russia as consequence of intoxication.
AMB-FUBINACA (also known as FUB-AMB and MMB-FUBINACA) is an indazole-based synthetic cannabinoid that is a potent agonist for the cannabinoid receptors, with Ki values of 10.04 nM at CB1 and 0.786 nM at CB2 and EC50 values of 0.5433 nM at CB1 and 0.1278 nM at CB2, and has been sold online as a designer drug. It was originally developed by Pfizer which described the compound in a patent in 2009, but was later abandoned and never tested on humans. AMB-FUBINACA was the most common synthetic cannabinoid identified in drug seizures by the Drug Enforcement Administration in 2017 and the first half of 2018.
4-Fluoromethylphenidate is a stimulant drug that acts as a higher potency dopamine reuptake inhibitor than the closely related methylphenidate.
2-Fluorodeschloroketamine is a dissociative anesthetic related to ketamine. Its sale and use as a designer drug has been reported in various countries. It is an analogue of ketamine where the chlorine group has been replaced by fluorine. Due to its recent emergence, the pharmacological specifics of the compound are mostly unclear, but effects are reported to be similar to its parent compound, ketamine.
N-Ethylhexedrone (also known as α-ethylaminocaprophenone, N-ethylnorhexedrone, hexen, and NEH) is a stimulant of the cathinone class that acts as a norepinephrine–dopamine reuptake inhibitor (NDRI) with IC50 values of 0.0978 and 0.0467 μM, respectively. N-Ethylhexedrone was first mentioned in a series of patents by Boehringer Ingelheim in the 1960s which led to the development of the better-known drug methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV). Since the mid-2010s, N-ethylhexedrone has been sold online as a designer drug. In 2018, N-ethylhexedrone was the second most common drug of the cathinone class to be identified in Drug Enforcement Administration seizures.
N-Ethylpentedrone is a chemical compound of the substituted cathinone class. Since the mid-2010s, NEP has been sold online as a designer drug. It is the N-ethyl analog of pentedrone.
